All ten Mars Snacking factories in Europe are now powered by renewable energy.

Producing Snickers, Twix, M&Ms, Skittles and Orbit, the factories in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and the UK are now fully green by renewables after a €1.5 bn investment in the manufacturing network.

The company invested in its first European windfarm in 2016 (the Moy wind farm in the UK), and over the past decade has transitioned all confectionery manufacturing sites across Europe to renewable electricity. Moving away from natural gas was a difficult challenge for the company, as it is used to run intensive infrastructure such as boilers and ovens. After reviewing a number of options, the company opted to purchase biomethane as the preferred approach to support delivery of its decarbonisation plan across Mars Snacking European manufacturing sites.

In addition to investments to reduce and convert energy consumption, Mars has purchased guarantees of origin (GO) certificates for the remaining renewable electricity and biomethane equivalent to the amount of electricity and natural gas used in the company's direct operations for confectionery in Europe.

"Sustainability makes good business sense and is at the heart of our strategy, and we are committed to making a meaningful difference ensuring that today's actions create lasting benefits for future generations," commented Marc Carena, regional president for Mars Wrigley.

This is a significant milestone on the company's global journey to net-zero by 2050, and over the past decade Mars has transitioned all confectionery manufacturing sites across Europe to renewable electricity, purchasing GO and REGO certificates equivalent to its annual electricity use in each market.

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